Not much separates Raptors and Bucks after four games

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A seven game series is reduced to three with two of the games on your home court.

You should feel good about yourselves, whether you are a member of the Raptors or even a fan of the team.

But can you?

A Game 4 win in which you re-established yourself as the team to beat has to be a confidence boost. But it was just 48 hours prior to that when the Bucks turned your season on its head with such an all-encompassing tour de force that even the most devout fans’ certainty about his teams’ chances had to be shaken.

If the first four games have taught us anything it is that the team that plays the hardest is going to win.

That may sound obvious (and truthfully it is) but far too often in dissecting a series we get caught up in who has the most overall talent, who has the better depth, which team has the edge in experience, who has the fresher legs and a number of factors which matter a whole lot more when there is a sizable gap between the two teams taking part in the series.

The truth of the matter is the gap between these two teams is not that large at all.

Yes, the Raptors had nine more regular season wins than the Bucks and finished three spots higher in the Conference than they did. Yes, the Raptors have a substantial more amount of experience than the young Bucks and yes overall they have the edge in talent although no one comes close to the seemingly endless talent possessed within the 7-foot frame of 22-year-old Giannis Antetokounmpo.

By our rough estimate Dwane Casey has referenced on at least eight or nine occasions already this series how small the gap is, not just between Toronto and Milwaukee but from 1-through 8 in the Eastern Conference, in a measure of ability to win basketball games.

The first seven or eight times he said it we nodded agreeably all the while thinking he was just being complimentary towards his opponent.

Turns out he was not.

Milwaukee is that good and anybody who doubts that need only go back and watch any of the first three games in the series.

Now Game 4 the Bucks came back to earth a little. They were no longer the 50% three-point shooting team that looked locked in and ready to take down the No 3 seeded Raps.

But the make-or-miss league you hear about so often from coaches is also a truism and for the better part of the first three games the Bucks were makers (apologies to Thon on that one) and the Raptors were missers for the most part although much better in Game 2.

Toronto is still not hitting at a high clip, certainly not from three point range where they are shooting just 31.3%, but at least they have put enough thought in the Bucks minds with their physicality and hard play that they no longer look like a team of Ray Allens just lining up and throwing down daggers from anywhere on the floor.

Jason Kidd for three games was winning the battle of which coach can get his team to play harder.

It’s debatable, but Casey probably got his first win on Saturday in that head-to-head matchup. Some will say he won it in Game 2 as well, Toronto’s first win but it didn’t feel that way.

Still, either way you feel about it, the Raptors and Bucks have a brand new series.

The Raptors have learned, if they didn’t already know, that there is absolutely no quit in these Bucks.

A gutsy lineup change in Game 4 by the Raptors got another guard on the floor, got Jonas Valanciunas away from chasing down Maker and freed DeMar DeRozan to be the scorer he has been all season.

Norm Powell deserves a ton of credit, as does Valanciunas for making this change so effective. Casey and his coaching staff similarly deserve a ton of credit for coming up with it.

The Bucks’ Kidd said it was the move they were expecting coming into Game 4 so taking him at his word, it means the Bucks were prepared for the change and still didn’t react well to it.

That’s a huge win for the Raptors beyond the game result. Look for the Bucks to come with a better answer for this in Game 5.

But in the end it’s still going to come down to the team that plays harder. Toronto may have got away with a win in Game 2 where they were beaten in the hard work game, but four games in that’s unlikely to happen again.

These two teams know each other inside and out by now and all the tendencies enough that it’s going to come down to who wants it more. Talent and experience and youth will obviously play a role, but the team better able to both hand out and absorb punishment is going to win the series.